Jeremiah 13:10-16

13:10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. ¹  They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance ²  to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So ³  they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing. 13:11 For,’ I say, ⁴  ‘just as shorts cling tightly to a person’s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah ⁵  tightly ⁶  to me.’ I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. ⁷  But they would not obey me.

13:12 “So tell them, ⁸  ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says, “Every wine jar is made to be filled with wine.”’ ⁹  And they will probably say to you, ‘Do you not think we know ¹⁰  that every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine?’ 13:13 Then ¹¹  tell them, ‘The Lord says, “I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor. ¹²  I will also fill the kings from David’s dynasty, ¹³  the priests, the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor. ¹⁴  13:14 And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike. ¹⁵  I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,’ ¹⁶  says the Lord.”

13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah, ¹⁷ 

“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!

For the Lord has spoken.

13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. ¹⁸ 

Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. ¹⁹ 

Do it before you stumble ²⁰  into distress

like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. ²¹ 

Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for

into the darkness and gloom of exile. ²² 

[13:10]  ¹ tn Heb “to listen to my words.”

[13:10]  ² tn Heb “and [they follow] after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[13:10]  ³ tn The structure of this verse is a little unusual. It consists of a subject, “this wicked people” qualified by several “which” clauses preceding a conjunction and a form which would normally be taken as a third person imperative (a Hebrew jussive; וִיהִי, vihi). This construction, called casus pendens by Hebrew grammarians, lays focus on the subject, here calling attention to the nature of Israel’s corruption which makes it rotten and useless to God. See GKC 458 §143.d for other examples of this construction.

[13:11]  ⁴ tn The words “I say” are “Oracle of the Lord” in Hebrew, and are located at the end of this statement in the Hebrew text rather than the beginning. However, they are rendered in the first person and placed at the beginning for smoother English style.

[13:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah.”

[13:11]  ⁶ tn It would be somewhat unnatural in English to render the play on the word translated here “cling tightly” and “bound tightly” in a literal way. They are from the same root word in Hebrew (דָּבַק, davaq), a word that emphasizes the closest of personal relationships and the loyalty connected with them. It is used, for example, of the relationship of a husband and a wife and the loyalty expected of them (cf. Gen 2:24; for other similar uses see Ruth 1:14; 2 Sam 20:2; Deut 11:22).

[13:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “I bound them…in order that they might be to me for a people and for a name and for praise and for honor.” The sentence has been separated from the preceding and an equivalent idea expressed which is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

[13:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “So you shall say this word [or message] to them.”

[13:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “Every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine.”

[13:12]  ⁹ tn This is an attempt to render a construction which involves an infinitive of a verb being added before the same verb in a question which expects a positive answer. There may, by the way, be a pun being passed back and forth here involving the sound play been “fool” (נָבָל, naval) and “wine bottle” (נֶבֶל, nebel).

[13:13]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek version is likely right in interpreting the construction of two perfects preceded by the conjunction as contingent or consequential here, i.e., “and when they say…then say.” See GKC 494 §159.g. However, to render literally would create a long sentence. Hence, the words “will probably” have been supplied in v. 12 in the translation to set up the contingency/consequential sequence in the English sentences.

[13:13]  ¹¹ sn It is probably impossible to convey in a simple translation all the subtle nuances that are wrapped up in the words of this judgment speech. The word translated “stupor” here is literally “drunkenness” but the word has in the context an undoubted intended double reference. It refers first to the drunken like stupor of confusion on the part of leaders and citizens of the land which will cause them to clash with one another. But it also probably refers to the reeling under God’s wrath that results from this (cf. Jer 25:15-29, especially vv. 15-16). Moreover there is still the subtle little play on wine jars. The people are like the wine jars which were supposed to be filled with wine. They were to be a special people to bring glory to God but they had become corrupt. Hence, like wine jars they would be smashed against one another and broken to pieces (v. 14). All of this, both “fill them with the stupor of confusion” and “make them reel under God’s wrath,” cannot be conveyed in one translation.

[13:13]  ¹² tn Heb “who sit on David’s throne.”

[13:13]  ¹³ tn In Hebrew this is all one long sentence with one verb governing compound objects. It is broken up here in conformity with English style.

[13:14]  ¹³ tn Or “children along with their parents”; Heb “fathers and children together.”

[13:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will not show…so as not to destroy them.”

[13:15]  ¹⁶ tn The words “Then I said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit from the address in v. 15 and the content of v. 17. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift from the Lord speaking to Jeremiah.

[13:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the Lord your God.” For this nuance of the word “glory” (כָּבוֹד, kavod), see BDB 459 s.v. כָּבוֹד 6.b and compare the usage in Mal 1:6 and Josh 7:19.

[13:16]  ²⁰ tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.

[13:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “your feet stumble.”

[13:16]  ²² tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.

[13:16]  ²³ tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.